Lions' Suh suspended for playoff game against Cowboys

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh stands on the field during warms-ups of their NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Detroit, Michigan December 30, 2012. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

(Reuters) - Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will miss Sunday’s NFC wildcard clash with the Cowboys in Dallas after being suspended for one game for a violation of the National Football League’s safety-related playing rules.

Suh was penalized for stepping on the left leg of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s regular season finale.

With Rodgers in a defenseless posture, Suh backed up and stepped on the quarterback’s leg with his right foot before repeating the move with his left foot in a display of “unnecessary roughness”, the NFL said in a statement on Monday.

“You did not respond in the manner of someone who had lost his balance and accidentally contacted another player who was lying on the ground,” Merton Hanks, the NFL’s vice president of football operations, said.

“This illegal contact, specifically the second step and push off with your left foot, clearly could have been avoided.”

Suh, who has a long history of player-safety violations, can appeal the suspension within three business days under the collective bargaining agreement.

Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes